‘Hallmark-Movie Worthy!!’ ‘The perfect beachy Christmas Romance.’ Escape to Angel Sands this Christmas…Caitie Russell’s big brother is getting married. As the proud owner of Holiday Magic, Caitie is the obvious choice to organise the perfect Christmas wedding. Piece of cake, right?If it weren’t for one gorgeous, man-shaped problem…Her brother’s best friend, Brecken Miller.He was her first … brother’s best friend, Brecken Miller.
He was her first crush.
Her first kiss.
Her first broken heart.
Thanks to his past, Breck would rather pull his nails out than celebrate Christmas. Until he sees his best friend’s little sister again.
Caitie Russell is all grown up and impossible to ignore.
Like a moth to a flame he’s drawn to her.
And as Christmas approaches he finds himself wondering – can their fire melt his frozen heart?
Just A Kiss is a standalone read in the Angel Sands series of small-town books. If you love curling up with a heartwarming holiday romance, this low-angst, high-feels story is for you.
more
4
Just A Kiss: A Small Town Brother’s Best Friend Love Story (Angel Sands Book 4)
4 stars
I purchased a copy of the novel Just A Kiss: A Small Town Brother’s Best Friend Love Story (Angel Sands Book 4):Brecken and Caitie by Carrie Elks and this review was given freely.
Irony, PTSD, a wedding and a steamy opposites attract, best friend’s brother, second chance at love romance. Holiday Consultant Caitie is forced to face her fear of water when she reunites with Christmas hating construction business owner Brecken Miller at her brother Lucas’ engagement party..
OMG I absolutely loved this book! I read it so quickly. Caitie and Breck were so loveable and they faced real obstacles for them to be together. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and I recommend to anyone as a perfect Christmas read.
4
Just A Kiss: A Small Town Brother’s Best Friend Love Story (Angel Sands Book 4)
4 stars
I purchased a copy of the novel Just A Kiss: A Small Town Brother’s Best Friend Love Story (Angel Sands Book 4):Brecken and Caitie by Carrie Elks and this review was given freely.
Irony, PTSD, a wedding and a steamy opposites attract, best friend’s brother, second chance at love romance. Holiday Consultant Caitie is forced to face her fear of water when she reunites with Christmas hating construction business owner Brecken Miller at her brother Lucas’ engagement party..
5
Baby I’m Yours: A Small Town Accidental Pregnancy Romance (Angel Sands Book 5)
4 stars
I purchased a copy of the novel Baby I’m Yours: A Small Town Accidental Pregnancy Romance (Angel Sands Book 5): Harper and James by Carrie Elks and this review was given freely.
An attraction at first sight romance with an unplanned pregnancy, two emotionally scarred characters, and their wonderful supportive group of friends. The sudden loss of her dream job leads Harper back to Angel Sands, her friend Caitie, and a alcohol involved encounter with a stranger who just happens to be a friend of Caitie’s family, the grieving widower and orthopedic spine surgeon James Tanner
Loved the book it was great, the story was well written and the characters were interesting. Lucas and Ember it was their wedding and Lucas having his best friend there. Cavities been in love with Breck for along time and he liked her alot. Love, lust, happiness, hope, excited, twist and turns.
Thank you for you allowing me to review your book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Just A Kiss by Carrie Elks is more than just a festive, sizzling romance there is a story of vulnerability that will break your heart but the courage from our characters is so heartening to read.
I’ve enjoyed and fallen in love with every one of Carrie Elks’ stories in the Angel Sands series. Just A Kiss is another great instalment that brings two new characters together. I would wholeheartedly recommend reading the books in the series in order as the characters from previous stories do crop up and you can then enjoy a continuation of their lives. We briefly read about Brecken and Caitie in the last book. Brecken is a good friend of Lucas but he’s been living away from Angel Sands for 13 years since the tragic death of his mom on Christmas Eve. Brecken is no longer the 15 year old boy heartbroken and lost but he’s a man enjoying the success of the company he’s worked at with his father. Coming back to Angel Sands was difficult for him but Brecken keeps himself busy and finds his own way of coping at Christmas time by totally avoiding anything to do with it!
Caitie is the younger sister of Lucas, she too left Angel Sands a good few years ago. Following a traumatic experience Caitie has a fear of water, specifically the beach and the ocean, she’s kept this fear hidden from her parents but as they live near the beach it can be difficult to keep her anxiety at bay. Caitie left the area to go to college in New York and has continued living there and loves her job as a Festive Holiday Consultant. Caitie loves all things Christmassy so this is her dream job. With Thanksgiving approaching Caitie knows she has to make the journey back home but hopes to avoid the close proximity of the beach. However, when Lucas invites her to his party at his home on the beach to celebrate his engagement with Ember her fears soon come to the surface again.
Brecken and Caitie haven’t seen each other since that sad day 13 years ago but Caitie hasn’t forgotten Brecken, the boy with the sad eyes she fell in love with. When they finally meet again chemistry soon sizzles and Brecken can’t help but notice Caitie’s anxiety and starts to help her. With news of Lucas and Ember’s wedding approaching Caitie steps in to help with preparations but can Brecken cope with a full on festive celebration?
A gorgeously, romantic festive treat. This series gets better and better.
This is my first book of the series. It was great as a standalone, but I could also see the different characters involved from the previous books that it’d be nice to go back and read about, and having read them before would have added a lot.
This book was amazing. Great characters and depth and a truly engaging story. I didn’t want to put it down.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is the fourth book in the Angel Sands Series. This story is heartwarming, captivating, sweet and emotional. This is a well written and has a good storyline. I truly enjoyed reading about these two characters Brecken and Caitie.
I read and reviewed an Advanced copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. All thought and opinions are of my own.
A great addition to the Angel Sands series. Carrie does a wonderful job writing the story so it pulls you in right away and keeps you there until you finish. Strong characters, wonderful story line and a great read for the holiday season. I love Carries’s writing and she didn’t waste any time being added to my list of favorite authors.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a great read with an awesome storyline that has well developed and engaging characters that have lots of chemistry. The smooth flow of the storyline makes for a good reading time.
I loved Just A Kiss. It’s a charming, sweet and totally swoon worthy tale. I adored Caitie and Breck. I also really love the small town their story takes place in. If your looking for a heartwarming story to get you in the mood for the holidays I’d definitely recommend Caitie and Breck’s.
Another great book in the Angel Sands series. Both Caitie and Brecken have a past that has affected their present. However their chemistry is so worth the challenges they have to overcome. A cute love story! While this book is apart of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone.
Carrie Elks is amazing at writing slow burn friends to lovers romance where the main characters has this amazing chemistry but they know that they have obstacles they have to fight through before they even have a chance to figure out if they are meant to be. I love her writing and I loved this book to.
Brecken Miller is a contractor who moves back to Angel Sands after 13 years to build a resort. When he was 17 he and his younger brother Daniel lost their mother to cancer on Christmas Day and they are taken away from all of their friends and everything they have ever known, by their father who lives in Boston. His best friend was/is Lucas who is marrying Ember. These two characters found each other in the first book of the “Angel Sands” series, and they are such a wonderful couple. Brecken is one of the groomsmen and for the first time after 13 years he sees Lucas’s sister Caitie. Caitie has had a crush on Brecken ever since she can remember and he was her first kiss. Caitie accepts the challenge to help Lucas and Ember to make their wedding happen since they want a Christmas wedding and they only have 2 month to find a venue and get everything in order. Brecken decides to help her and things take of from there.
I loved Brecken. He is so caring and attentive towards Caitie and he knows and remembers a lot about her problems and how to help her when not even her own family knows about it. He is also very closed of about his own problems and anxiety and that creates a misunderstanding in the end but it is fortunately solved really fast. He hates Christmas because of everything that happened the Christmas his mother died. He also hates confrontation and does everything he can not to hurt his friends or his family. He is a surfer with a great body and he is the sweetest hero.
Caitie is a holiday planner and she works on Christmas events all year around and she hates to live near the waterfront. She is amazing, forgiving, strong, strong minded and she knows what she wants. She is very caring and will do anything to help the people she loves.
These two characters are so different from each other but they make sense together and that is what matters. They are so amazing together.
One thing that I didn’t like was that each of their friend groups meddles in their love life and push them both to date other people and they don’t get a say. Another is Rachel who is so clingy and annoyed me so much.
I can definitely recommend this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Just A Kiss was such a was such a amazing read, it’s the kind of Christmasy romance story that gives you all the warm and fuzzies inside.
It all started with a teenage crush for Caitie Russell, with the object of her affection being her big brothers best friend Brecken Miller, to a meeting years later when she is asked to help plan her brother Lucas’s Christmas wedding. This story is the fourth book set in the seaside town of Angel Sands, California, and it may have a little more sunshine than most Christmas stories but it never distracts you from the charm and warmth of the Christmas theme that flows full on throughout the story.
I really got drawn in by the plot of this book because it not only features a love rival, it focuses on a past Christmas that one remembers so fondly that it seals their love of all things Christmas, while another finds it brings only sadness and hurt. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride for both Breck and Caitie and it really pulls at your heartstrings.
I love the stories by this author as her writing is always so good and you know that your in for a great read everytime you pick up one of her stories and this book didn’t disappoint in anyway. If you love a Christmas story with a twist, and without any snow then you will fall in love with this story as much as I did.
Book four of the Angel Sands series a well written story. Caitie has come home to help plan her brother Lucas and Ember’s Christmas wedding, she meets Brecken again. I enjoyed reading Brecken Miller and Caitie Russell’s story they will have alot to overcome before they can be together. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Would you like to spend Christmas in Angel Sands? Always welcome
Angel Sands series,just great reading.
This is the fourth book in the Angel Sands series , Caitie and Breck story and is good addition.
It’s brother’s best friend type of romance,
It could be read as standalone.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Intense, emotional, beautiful, forbidden love story
This book is a great one to curl up with on the sofa and just get lost in the the life of the people of Angel Sands.
Heart- warming, sweet, and captivating.
An awesome addition to the series.
I received an Advance Reader Copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.
They have nothing to fear but fear itself!
4.5 stars
The standard remains high in this fourth book in the Angel Sands series as yet another couple unite in the small California beach town. I liked and sympathized with the two main protagonists, Caitie and Breck, each with a major childhood trauma still looming large in their adult lives. The story’s main events revolve around the preparations for the wedding of Caitie’s brother who is also one of Breck’s best boyhood friends. A pushy female member of the wedding party adds some complications to the couple’s attempts to get closer after not seeing each other for thirteen years since a fateful Christmas when they were teens.
Breck was my favorite character. His challenging backstory as a protector for his younger brother and mother as she suffered and succumbed to cancer really laid the foundation for his adult hang-ups about Christmas and opening up and sharing his feelings.
The plot was good, the romancing had some heat but without being too explicit, and the secondary characters, like Caitie’s BFF roommate Harper and her mother Deenie, and even the overeager Rachel, all helped make the story a really enjoyable read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Just a Kiss is a wonderful brother’s best friend, first kiss and first crush love story. Every visit to Angel Sands, every couple in Angel Sands, has been delightful. But, Just A Kiss might be my favorite in the series. There’s something about Caitie and Brecken and their history that really grabbed my heart. They are so meant for each other and their journey requires both of them to face their deep fears head-on.
This story is driven by the upcoming marriage of Lucas and Ember from the first book in the series. Lucas’ sister Caitie returns to Angel Sands to celebrate their engagement and comes face to face with Brecken, her childhood crush. He’s been gone for so long but somehow Caitie has always measured any romantic interests to him. Breck has also had a deep fondness for Cait”, as he calls her, and meeting her as a grown woman puts him in a tailspin. She’s one of his best friends sister, but the two feel an instant “adult” connection, and a new and improved friendship is born.
What follows is an emotional whirlwind of two people helping each other to overcome their past, providing the acceptance and support that they both need. There are fundamentally a few items that make them polar opposites, setting the stage for their personal reckonings:
“It’s like being a vegan and getting married to a butcher.”
They have to see through the assumptions and communicate openly and honestly, and they have that, it just takes them a little time to build a trustful foundation. There’s a bit of angst and definitely some heartache but I really loved how they find themselves back in each other’s lives and still have a fundamental connection.
Carrie’s storytelling, her writing, is exquisite and the plotlines add just enough “gotcha” moments to keep the reader engaged. Ms. Elks imparts a great sense of community as each couple shares amazing dynamics together and with this group of friends. The characters are true to life, imperfectly perfect. With a great cast of now secondary characters and the introduction of Caitie’s best friend Harper, the series is nearing the conclusion. I’ve enjoyed each and every book, which you can read standalone – but why would you? Another 5 Star addition to Ms. Elks library and a full-hearted recommendation for both series and book.
The Christmas season is nearing and I’m already watching all those Hallmark movies. I say this because this book would fit right into that TV screen with real to life Hallmark characters. After all it is the season.
Caitie and Breck would definitely play the star-crossed lovers, tugging at the heartstrings of all the viewers.
When Breck’s mom died, he was 17 and had to go across the country to Boston to live with his dad. He forgot all about Caitie and his friends back in Angel Sands, California. But Caitie’s memory is a little bit longer than Breck’s. She knows who gave her all the big ‘firsts’ in her life…. you just don’t forget those things.
Now, they no longer are teenagers. Life has happened to them both. Things definitely have changed. Both have suffered blows that affect and impact who they are now. Caitie now lives in New York but comes back to Angel Sands for her brother, Lucas’, wedding. Breck and Lucas were best friends in high school. When Breck moved back, he and Lucas forged that friendship again, so naturally, Lucas wants in his wedding.
Now we have Breck and Caitie back home again on an emotional rollercoaster where they learn that opposites definitely do attract.
OBSERVATIONS:
… If you’re like me, there will be times you want to give Breck a piece of your mind to knock some sense into him…. but you still love him.
… The characters aren’t perfect, they are flawed and that makes the storyline that much better.
… It’s really nice seeing the love of family, and friendship extolled in a story that touches the heart.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
What a fun friends to lovers story. Abby and Gilly have been friends since birth, and they’ve never attempted to take their relationship to another level.
After seeing her two friends get pregnant, Abby gets the idea to have a baby also. But she doesn’t want a relationship, just a baby. And she wants to have the baby the old fashioned way. However, when she tells Gilly, his reaction is not what she expected.
There are many humorous moments in this book and lots of steam. This was a very entertaining read and I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.